Another Normal Day
by BlAcKMaGiK
Summary: Chapter 5 is up! I'm going on vacation so I won't update for a while. But plz. R+R
1. School

Disclaimer: I don't own Evangelion

Notes  
- the dialogue with * at the beginning is in German. I don't speak german so I couldn't right it in German as much as I wanted to. If anyone feels like translating for me, please do.  
- A lot of things might not make sense, but eventually most of them will. Hopefuly. And I do realize people are out of character but that's how I wanted them.

Another Normal Day

Chapter One: School

People use the term 'simple room' often. Any room with nothing extravagant, is a simple room to people. Unless you yourself live in a so called 'simple room', yet you don't think your room is simple at all. Usually. But this, this was a simple room. The walls would have been bare if it had not been free to paint it white. There would be no lamp if it wasn't a necessity, for the girl liked to read. If it were not for the girl's self-consciousness of her looks, there would be no mirror. And a closet, that was unavoidable since it had been built in to the apartment. But it gave the girl a place to put her clothes without wrinkling them, so that was good. This and other equipment that was sufficient for a human's basic needs for living was all that was present in the room. 

'Red eyes. Nasty red eyes. The color of blood. The color of the sun burning through your eyelids when your trying to sleep. The color that indicates infection. A nasty color.' The girl thought as she continued looking in the mirror examining herself. 

"All right, I'm ready for school" she says and grabs her bag. She heads to the door and looks back a her simple room. She looks for anything she had forgotten about, but as usual, there was nothing. She walked out the door, locked it behind her and headed for school.

------------

A familiar room. It looked awfully like his old home. Same rooms, same balcony. Almost the same view, but he was a couple of floors higher so there was always at least a soft breeze on his balcony, unlike Ms. Katsuragi's. The place was actually too big for one person, but Shinji didn't mind. He didn't mind many things. Or so it seemed. Nothing seemed to phase him too much. But perhaps what was going on his head was different from the way he acted in reality. Who would ever know? This boy lying on his bed, in the same room as it had been before. Nobody knew what he was really thinking. Nor did anyone know what the young lady who lived next door to him was thinking. Or the loud over energetic homeroom teacher that Shinji had a few floors below him. Or the old man who lived to the other side of him, but now I'm getting carried away.

Shinji awoke at the sound of his alarm ringing. He quickly tapped the top of it, silencing it. He yawned as he sat upright on his bed. After grabbing his school clothes, he headed to the shower. 

------------

Asuka's eyes slowly opened. She awoke, although she had never felt like she was asleep. She gets out of her bed and begins to get dressed. 

Asuka had not had a satisfying sleep in a while. Whenever she slept she always felt like she was awake. She actually never really knew if she were really asleep. She could feel her sub-concious taking over yet she could still feel herself lying on her bed, trying so hard to go to sleep. She didn't dream either. Which may have been a good thing since if she did, nightmares would probably come to her and drag her down. 

Asuka went to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of milk. She drank it and then checked her cupboards for what she had to eat. It was a combination of items she had bought and items that her parents had sent her from Germany. Food was not the only thing they sent. Clothes, toothpaste, books, jewelry.... pretty much anything they could fit into a a box that Asuka could need. Asuka had not touched a single one of these things except the food, since food from Germany was far better than Japanese food. At least to her. 

------------

Misato Katsuragi awoke after many fights with her alarm clock. Literally. The bruised alarm clock with only one hand left and it's side smashed still stubbornly ringing.

"Fine!" Misato yells, "But tomorrow I'm going to win!". With that she gets out from under her futon and walks over to kitchen. From inside the refrigerator she takes out the only thing present in it. A can of beer. A few minutes later Misato gets many phone calls from her neighbors complaining about yelling at the break of dawn.

Misato Katsuragi was a teacher. She despised science, in particular the science institute Nerv. Her father had worked there and because of his work he had never really taken care of Misato and her mother. He was never home, he never called, and eventually he died during an experiment. Her mother, who had cursed him every night sobbed the whole night when she heard the news. Misato, only a young teenager at the time had no idea what to do. Even today her mother is still not who she was before her husband's death. The money from his life insurance meant she did not have to work, but that may be a bad thing since now all she does is live in her own world.

Misato picked up her necklace with a cross on it after getting out of the shower.. She had received it from her father. It was the only thing he had ever given her. She had thrown it away once, but eventually went through hell to get it back. Misato then reviewed her lesson plans for she had some time before she had to leave. 

---------------

Shinji was walking silently. He was still half asleep as he dragged his feet along the ground urging them not to give out before he reached school. He seemed to always be thinking. 

"*Did you do the science homework?"

"Huh?" Shinji says as he snaps out of his thought.

"*Did you do the science homework?" Asuka repeated. 

"Uh.. yeah, I did" Shinji says then went back to thinking.

"*Can.... I ..... have it?" Asuka says slowly.

"To keep?" Shinji asks.

"*To copy" Asuka replies.

Shinji suddenly stops walking and opens his bag. He sifts through his notebook, then rips out a page and hands it to Asuka.

"Danke" Asuka says as she examines it.

Shinji then starts walking and continues his trail of thought.

-------------------

The classroom was somewhat full. Perhaps maybe half the students had already arrived. Shinji and Asuka walked to their respective desks and dropped of their bag. Shinji then went to talk to Touji and Kensuke while Asuka went to greet Hikari and Rei.

"I never thought you would be the type of person to go only for looks" Touji says to Shinji as he approaches. Touji was twirling a pen between his fingers sitting on the desk and Kensuke was sitting at the desk next to him.

"What?" Shinji asks and then sees who they were staring at.

"We admit she's got looks, but haven't you ever heard of inner beauty?" Kensuke says.

"It's not like that" Shinji says, not even turning red since he was used to the abuse.

"Oh no, your just really good friends" Touji says attempting to mock Shinji's voice.

"No, we're just friends" 

"Well why don't you develop friendships with other.... prospects" Touji says.

"Yeah, like...... her" Kensuke says as he stared dreamily at a girl sitting in the corner of the room by herself.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure you completely see the inner beauty in her considering you haven't ever spoken to her" Shinji says as he looks over at the girl he never bothered to notice before. 

The girl had her head in her arms on top of her desk. She was looking straight forward, but at nothing in particular. She had earphones in both ears and seemed to be absorbed in the music. Every once in a while her lips would move as if she was singing along but then her face would immediately turn expressionless once again. She didn't catch the three boys stealing glances at her.

Touji slaps Kensuke hard on the back. "Stop staring, what if she sees you!?"

"Ow...." 

"Well I guess it's time I start meddling with your love life" Shinji says, looking somewhat evil.

"Oh no, you're mistaking me for Touji.... Right Touji?" Kensuke says, "In fact I think I'll go do that right now" With that Kensuke gets up and begins walking toward Hikari, Asuka, and Rei.

"I'll kill you" Touji says as he grabs Kensuke hard and pulls him back. Shinji and Kensuke laugh while Touji threatens to knock Kensuke out after school. 

"That was revenge for hitting me before" Kensuke says.

"Well this is my revenge" Touji then flicks the pen he was twirling across the room and it hits the girl's desk. At first she seems to not notice but then she picks her head up and picks up the pen that had fallen on the floor after hitting her desk.

Touji puts on a complete poker face as he starts talking to Shinji about meaningless subjects. Kensuke was bright red with anger quietly whispering his death threats to Touji.

"Oh man you should've seen it yesterday, it was great! It was the funniest episode ever. So he walks into a donkey ranch and says...."

"Did you drop this?" A voice behind Touji says. He quickly spins around in surprise and is face to face with a reasonably tall girl with one earphone in place. Anybody who stood face to face with Touji was somewhat tall.

"Uuh... w..well y... ye... yes" Touji stutters as he takes the pen from the girl's hand. 

The girl then turns and walks back to her seat.

"I hate you" Kensuke mutters after the girl was sitting down with her earphones in place again.

"Oh come on, I didn't think she would know who threw it, nor did I think she would come up to us." Touji says, defending himself.

"It doesn't change the fact that I hate you" Kensuke says in a low voice. 

"You know, this might be your chance" Shinji says. 

"What?" Kensuke and Touji both say simultaneously.

"Well you can go over there, ask for her name, and then apologize"

"That's my big chance? Apologizing to her?" Kensuke says, losing all enthusiasm. 

"No, your big chance is knowing her name. It's a small step but it's better than nothing"

"No way, I'll make a fool of myself" Kensuke says.

"Just go man, you're not going to waste this golden opportunity that I granted you" Touji says smiling.

"What? You didn't-"

"Just go" Touji says.

Kensuke sighs deeply and then takes a deep breath. "Fine" he says.

"Wow really? I mean yeah that's the spirit!" Touji says.

'Wha...you-" Kensuke was interrupted by Touji.

"I'm kidding, just go before you lose the impulse" 

Kensuke takes another deep breath and then gets up and walks over to the girl.

-----------

"Look at them, they're so stupid" Hikari says as she looks at Touji.

"We don't call them the three stooges for nothing" Asuka says.

"Why the hell would you throw a pen at someone? What is that like a guy thing? I must never ask for directions and I must throw pens at random people." Hikari says, making her voice deeper.

Rei and Asuka laugh as Hikari looks at the girl walking toward Touji. 

"This might be fun" Asuka says as she catches on and watches.

The three girls see Touji and the girl exchange a few words. The girl then hands the pen back and walks over to her desk, assuming her previous position.

"Or not..." Asuka says quietly.

"That was nice of her" Rei says.

"Yeah... and weird" Asuka says.

"Well, at least she didn't make it into a scene" Hikari says enthusiastically.

"Yeah... how boring" Asuka says, "Anyway, so I saw the nicest restaurant the other day! It was-"

"Hey he's going over to her" 

"Huh?" Asuka looked over and saw Kensuke walking toward the girl. He seemed really nervous.

"If they think that's going to get him a girlfriend....." Asuka mutters.  


-----------

"Um.... I'm very sorry about my friend he's a complete idiot thank you for the pen back what's your name?" Kensuke says very quickly. He then realized how stupid he sounded and tried to think of a way to redeem himself.

"Uh I mean... well..."

"Did you say something?" The girls says as she removed one earphone from her ear. 

"Uh... yes.. I did, I was asking you what your name was"

"Why?"

"Huh?... Uh well... I just thought... um..."

The girl was silent and stared blankly at Kensuke. Kensuke shut his mouth in an attempt to not sound like a complete fool. An awkward silence came between them and remained there until the girl broke it.

"Ai Li.... Xun" the girl says.

"Ai Li... Oh um well.... I wanted to apologize on the behalf of my friend, he's really immature" Kensuke says, trying to keep his voice as steady as possible.

"I don't really care, tell him not to worry about it" Ai Li says.

"Okay...." The two were silent for a moment but Kensuke hastily brought up a subject. 

"You weren't around here last year were you?" 

"No I wasn't"

"Yeah... I never saw you around...." Kensuke was sweating from nervousness. 

Another silence followed and Kensuke could think of nothing to say, so he left before the situation became anymore awkward.

"Well... bye" Kensuke walks back over to Touji and Shinji. The girl looks in his direction for a moment then puts her head down once again.

---------------

"Male students rejoice! We have a new student, and it's a girl!" Misato says enthusiastically to the class, "Come in" 

A blonde haired girl walks into the classroom. Her hair looked like it hadn't been combed in a while and there's was not a hint of make up on her face which was somewhat unusual for girls of her age. She walked slowly, but with grace and bowed to the class.

"My name is Katharina Hedwig. Yoroshiku!" she says smiling.

------------------

A/N: It's a sequel but it's not. It would be a sequel had I finished the previous story, but I haven't. And I may not. So it's kinda like a new story but it isn't. I dunno how to describe it. Well anyway, tell me what you guys think. BTW I think Xun is pronounced Shun, but I'm not sure. If anyone can confirm it I will be grateful.


	2. and yet so different?

...and yet so different?

The same classroom and yet so different.

_Touji_

_There he is. I don't know what to say. Should I just act normal? I guess I should.... but it will be hard. Good thing he isn't facing me or I wouldn't have time to think. Will he know? Will he remember? Will he even know who I am? Or will I just sound like a complete idiot..... It doesn't matter... Let me sound like a complete idiot... let him think I'm stupid... compared to what used to be between us... this is nothing. I'm going to talk to him. I'm going to go say something... and I'm not going to run away._

"Uh...Touji?" 

"Hey Shinji!" Touji says enthusiastically, as he turns around to face Shinji.

"Um well...."

"Yo, you didn't get into any trouble did you?" Touji says, his voice sounding suddenly serious when he saw Shinji's face.

"What? No I haven't... but why-"

"Well you look like you just did a horrible thing or something... I don't know, maybe it's just me..." Touji says, his voice abandoning the seriousness.

"Yeah.... maybe" Shinji says.

-----------

The same hallway and yet so different.

_Asuka_

_You are Asuka ... right? You're the same Asuka. You're the one who knows what's going on. You and a couple of others. But for now, it's just you. And you haven't changed. But why do you look so dead?_

"Hey...." Asuka says looking very distressed.

"Hi" Shinji says, not sounding especially cheerful. 

"......."

"......."

"I have to go" Asuka suddenly says.

"Alright..." before giving Shinji a chance to say goodbye, Asuka walks off. 

_Asuka......_

------------

The same roof and yet so different

_Rei_

_I'm sorry. That's all I can say to you, but I won't. That's all I really have to say, but I'm not going to. But maybe someday, I will. Someday I'll be able to say everything. But now, I would just stare into your beautiful eyes and say nothing. But that's just too awkward._

"Rei" 

"Ikari-kun" 

"Um......"

"I know what has occurred. No uneasiness is necessary around me" Rei says smiling reassuringly.

"I.... did I do the-"

"Who cares?" 

"............"

"Shinji-kun, you did what you could do. You did what you wanted. You should have no regrets" 

"....I don't...I think" 

"For what it's worth, I'm happy with the.....readjustments" 

Shinji looks down and thinks. Slowly, a smile creeps to his face.

"I'm guessing you want to tell me something?" Rei asks.

"What?" Shinji says snapping out of thought.

"Regarding my... our memory...." 

"Oh well..." Shinji says, unsure of what to say.

"We will have to discuss it, when we are all together...alone" 

"Right" Shinji says satisfied with that.

"If you don't mind me asking, how many know?"

"Four, one of them I won't see for a while...maybe even never" Shinji says.

"I see, well we will see what happens....." Rei says.

"Yeah......"

".........."

".........."

"Soryu-san is probably unstable. She does not know what has happened, although she can probably deduce a lot of it."

"Yeah, I was going to talk to her but-"

"She probably wants to think for now" Rei says.

Shinji just could not stop smiling at the transformation Rei went through. But the smile would quickly fade since guilt would give him a pinch every time he enjoyed the new Rei.

"Well, I'll try to talk to her" Shinji says.

"That would be best."

"Well, bye" 

"Farewell"

---------------

Shinji wandered, nowhere in particular. All his years in Tokyo-3 and he had never gotten the chance to just wander and watch the sights, with no worries of an angel attacking. So Shinji wandered the streets, looking at all the stores, entering a few, but buying nothing. 

"What are you looking for?" The people in stores would ask him, but his reply was the same everytime, "I don't know".

But Shinji did know what he was looking for, he didn't know that he knew, but he did. And it all hit him when he saw a girl walking in front of him. A girl with blonde hair.

"Kat?" Shinji said, barely audible over all the ruckus in the busy streets.

"Kat!" Shinji yelled and ran up to the girl. The girl turned around to see who was the retard yelling at the top of his lungs when she saw Shinji. Shinji stopped infront of the girl, somewhat out of breath.

"Can I help you?" The girl asks, she was smiling.

The girl was not German, but a Japanese girl with dyed hair.

"Uh... no sorry, I thought you were someone else." Shinji stammered, embarrassed at his foolishness for even thinking Katharina was in Japan. 

"Okay then..." The girl says her smile fading. After taking one last look at Shinji she walks back in the direction she was walking before.

Shinji stands there catching his breath for a moment. Then he turns around and walks in the opposite direction of the girl, out of the corner of his eye he sees a girl with red hair. 

'Asuka?' Shinji thinks but when he looks again there was no redhead. Shinji looks puzzled for a moment but then continues to walk.

"Alright, today is not my day" Shinji mutters to himself.

---------------

*A Few Days Later*

"My name is Katharina Hedwig, Yoroshiku!" The blonde haired girl says smiling.

There seemed to be a mixed response from the class. Some guys paid only a second of attention to her, while others gawked. Some girls glared, while others just smiled back. 

Rei examined Katharina intensely and Asuka just stared. Shinji looked as of he saw a ghost.

"Well Katharina, you can take a seat over there, behind Shinji" Misato says, "Shinji please raise your-"

But Katharina was already walking. She walked toward the aisle Shinji was sitting in and then walked down it. Shinji just stared at the desk and waited for her to pass by.

Katharina stops momentarily by Shinji's desk but only for an instance. Before anyone notices she sits down in the seat behind him. Misato then starts the lesson.

--------------

The bell rang, signaling lunch. 

"Well I'm out of here!" Misato says in delight and walks out of the room to go eat. 

"God, Ms. Katsuragi must be the only teacher in the school to be the first to leave class when the bell rings." Kensuke says.

"Hey, it's not like I'm complaining" Touji says. 

Hikari, Rei, and Asuka walked over to Touji and Kensuke's desk. The three took seats near them and Hikari unpacked two lunches.

"Here" she says giving one to Touji.

"Thanks" Touji says.

Hikari and Touji had become quite good friends. Hikari made him lunch everyday and Touji gladly accepted it. So the tradition was that everyday they would eat lunch together. And since Asuka and Rei were friends with Hikari they came along as well. 

"Where's Shinji-kun?" Hikari asks.

"Huh?" Touji, who had already started eating looks over at Shinji's desk. He was still seated there.

"Is he sleeping?" Touji thinks outloud, "Hey Shinji!" 

-------------

"You can't even say Hi to me?" 

Shinji was startled by the voice that came from behind him. "I.... I wasn't sure" Shinji says, not looking back.

"Wasn't sure of what?"

"I wasn't sure if it was you......" Shinji says.

Katharina was silent and Shinji had no idea what to say. His mind had stopped functioning ever since Katharina walked into the classroom this morning. 

"So are you happy to see me?" Katharina asks.

"Hey Shinji!"   


Shinji turns toward the voice and sees Touji waving him over.

"Uh...." Shinji was not quite sure what to do. He looked over at Katharina for the first time. She was smiling.

"Go, your friends demand your company" she says.

"But.-"

"We can talk later" 

"Katharina I-"

"Later Shinji, later."

Shinji says nothing for a moment but then nods and walks over to Touji. Katharina watches him until he begins talking with Touji and then looks down at her desk. She smiles weakly and sighs.

"He called me Katharina?" she mutters to herself. She then laughs and sits back. He glances over at Shinji who was being yelled at by two of his male friends. Katharina could here every word Kensuke was saying, so she decided to have some fun.

----------------

"And then what did you say?" Touji asks.

"Nothing, you called me over" Shinji responds.

"Oh my god Shinji!" Kensuke yells.

"Wha..what?" Shinji asks surprised by the sudden yelling.

"You're telling me the beautiful new girl from a different country attempted to conversate with you and you just blew her off?!"

"Well I..."

"She isn't _beautiful. _She's pretty, I'll give her that." Rei says quietly.

"You do realize she probably has no friends and was trying to make one. So right now you could be friends with that girl." Kensuke continues, ignoring Rei. 

"Yeah, and then obviously you would charm her to the points that she is completely in love with you and then..." Touji says, deciding to join Kensuke.

"You could get me really drunk and take to a hotel" 

Touji, Kensuke, and Shinji turn around and the girls look up at the girl who spoke. 

"Right?" Katharina says, looking at Touji and Kensuke.

The two of them were speechless, obviously embarassed that the girl heard every word they said. Shinji just smiles.

'Yeah, thats definately her' he thinks to himself.

"Uh... would you like to sit?" Hikari asks, being polite.

"Sure, why not" Katharina says in her cheerful manner. She then sits down next to Shinji. "Oh, your such a gentleman" Katharina says to Hikari and then eyes the three boys.

Hikari giggles but Touji and Kensuke go bright red. And Shinji.... Shinji was laughing.... hard.

"Wow" Touji says after Shinji had calmed down.

"Seriously" Kensuke says.

"What?" Shinji asks.

"I don't think I have ever seen you laugh that much.... ever" Touji says.

"Yeah... actually I think thats the first time I've seen you laughing in a while" Kensuke says.

"Really? Wow, I always thought he was kinda easy to make laugh" Katharina says.

"Wait, you two know each other?" Hikari asks.

"Well yeah, didn't he tell you? We-" Rei gives Shinji a look that Shinji immediately understands. He then interrupts Katharina.

"We met a few days ago..... at the.....um... library"

"What? No we-" Katharina was interrupted.

"*I'll tell you later" Shinji says in German.

Everybody but Asuka and Katharina say in unison "What?"

Katharina responds by saying something in German and smiles.

"Checking to see if I was lying?" Katharina asks, in Japanese.

"Alright, I think I speak for all of us when I repeat, What?" Touji says.

"He was checking to see if I was German" Katharina responds.

"Why?" Touji asks.

"I don't know, he probably thought I was lying. Right Shinji?"

"I just wanted to check" Shinji says.

Asuka who had not said a word this whole time suddenly speaks up. 

"I have to go" She then stands up and leaves the classroom.

They all stared at her, but none of them questioned and as soon as Asuka left the classroom, they went back to talking and eating.

---------------

'Katharina Hedwig' Asuka thinks as she walks down the hall. She continues to think as she walks and soon she was wandering aimlessly. She was thinking about Katharina mostly, and a little about Shinji. She snapped out of her thoughts when the bell rang and she realized she was on the opposite side of the school. She quickly runs back, knowing she was going to be late. But the thought in her head was not about an excuse.

'I'm no match'

A/N: I've got nothin to say. Please R+R!


	3. Conversations and a Play

Disclaimer: I don't own Evangelion

_Italics_ - Thought

* - German

------- - different place, different time

Conversations and a Play

Shinji paces back and forth infront of a bench where a certain blue haired girl was sitting. She looked somewhat tired, although it was hard to tell. Shinji glanced at her once in a while but said nothing and continued pacing. Rei, content with just sitting patiently waited while Shinji gathered his thoughts. She could see Nerv headquarters from where she was sitting. Shinji had met her outside the building and asked her to talk. She was surprised to say the least, she thought he would never set foot anywhere near the building that caused him so much pain.

"I have to explain things to Katharina" Shinji says, but continues pacing.

"You should have spoken to her today then" Rei says calmly.

"I know, but Touji and Kensuke were with us the whole time...."

"Well it seems she understood you're trying to hide something so it should not matter how long you take to tell her"

"But I told her I'd tell her later, and to her later implies sometime today. You don't know Katharina, she doesn't like things unexplained to her" 

"From what I see, there would be no complication if you tell her tomorrow, but as you say I do not know her" Rei says somewhat icily which confused Shinji. 

"But Touji and Kensuke...."

"Somewhere private then, perhaps you can invite her to your house"

"Yeah...." Shinji says as if it was finally starting to make sense, "yeah and you can come to!"

"What?" Rei says surprised.

"And Asuka, and then we can finally talk about everything"

"Oh I see...." Rei says and then stands up, "well I think we solved all your problems so I need to be getting home now"

"Oh sorry, um... I'll walk you" Shinji says.

Rei doesn't say a word and begins walking.

--------------------

"Wasn't it a hassle for you to come meet me?" Rei says after a while of walking.

"Well yeah, but I really needed someone to talk to, who understands. Plus I had nowhere to go after school anyway." Shinji says.

"I see...."

"How can you stand still going there?" Shinji asks.

"School?" Rei asks, but she knew what he was talking about.

"No... to Nerv" 

"I have no real reason not to go"

"But don't they do..... horrible things?" Shinji says not sure how to ask the question.

"It's not the same as it used to be. It's like any other science laboratory." Rei says.

"Do they do experiments on you and stuff?" 

"...."

"... Sorry" 

"Here's my house" Rei says, "Farewell"

"Bye Rei" Shinji says and after watching Rei enter her apartment, he heads to his own.

-----------------

Touji and Kensuke are in Kensuke's room. Two cups of tea that Kensuke's mother brought up were left untouched upon Kensuke's desk. Touji puts 1000 yen into his pocket and smiles at Kensuke.

"Alright man, you won't regret this" Touji says still smiling.

"I can't believe you charged me. And you call yourself a friend"

"Ai Li Xun, 15 years old, origin Chinese" Touji says professionally, ignoring Kensuke's remark.

"Thanks for the information it was definitely worth the money"

"She transferred to our school after her parents moved to Japan because her father had some... let's say bad relations, with the Chinese government. She has an older brother who is 18 years old and goes to college in Neo-Osaka. Her father now runs a restaurant and her mother helps when she's not busy taking care of Ai Li." Touji continues, again ignoring Kensuke, "She's 5 '9, 120 pounds, and a B cup. She enjoys the outdoors and likes nature. She practices martial arts and piano. When she was 5 she lost her little brother in a car accident. Her hair is black and so are her eyes. Her favorite color is green, favorite animal cat, lucky number 13, favorite kind of food Chinese, favorite subject gym, favorite-"

"How the hell did you get all the information!?" Kensuke interrupts.

"Okay I lied about the reason she moved and her bra size" Touji says.

Kensuke was a little taken back but then says "Still, how did you get the rest of the information?"

"Well Hikari gave me a lot of it. She has general information on most people in our class. I also asked Hikari to ask AI Li's friends for some information."

"So basically, I should be paying Hikari" Kensuke says, suddenly not as impressed.

"Oh come on, I bet you wouldn't have even thought to ask her"

"Did you get her phone number?"

Touji smiles evilly. "Maybe, I think I need some more... persuading to help me remember it"

"You better be joking"

"I really want to but this new game" Touji says simply as if it explained everything.

"100 yen" Kensuke says.

"What? At least... 750" Touji says.

"I already gave you 1000 that's overcharged already!" Kensuke yells.

"Well if you don't want it..."

"Fine fine, 750!" Kensuke says and rummages through his pockets glaring at Touji.

"Fine I'll make it 500 since you're a friend" 

Kensuke sighs and hands over 500 yen. Touji grins even wider and immediately recites, "132-2381"

Kensuke runs over to his desk and writes the number down on a piece of paper. He then sits back down and continues glaring at Touji.

"Don't worry man, I'll let you borrow the game when I'm done with it"

"That's not the point!" Kensuke yells. Touji breaks out laughing.

----------------

Hikari sat in a classroom with several other students. They were all seated in a circle, they all had their undivided attention directed at the teacher speaking, and they were all the class representative of their respective classes.

"And so each class will perform their play on different dates and after every class performs, the principal and assistant principal with choose the winner"

The students immediately eyed each other when the teacher mentioned the word winner. The teacher did not miss this and quickly added, "Remember the object of this is to raise money for our school, not which class performs the best"

"What does the winner get?" One girl asks.

The teacher gives her the 'What did I just tell you' look and then responds, "The winning class will receive a class trip to a hotel in the Onsen district"

Some of the students' eyes light up while others mutter "That's all we get..."

"Remember the prize is just a motivation for you to do your best. In the end it does not matter who wins, just how many people come to see you perform."

"Won't people feel... cheated if they don't get to see the winning play?" a boy asks.

"The winning class will perform their play again in a real theater" the teacher responds.

Many students gasp and others break into conversation.

"I've always wanted to be an actress"

"Me too"

"A real theater? So we get a real audience? Not just parents?"

etc etc etc

-------------

"Gochisousama" Shinji says to no one. He then proceeds bringing his plates to the kitchen and washing them. After he finishes this task he goes into his room and starts his homework. But he could not concentrate, for he kept thinking about what he was going to talk about with Katharina, Asuka, and Rei.

_Well what can I say? I could just explain everything bluntly and see their reactions. I'm sure they will have a lot to say about it. Or I could just wait for them to give me questions and I can just answer them. That would be easy. And I could count on Katharina to do that.... But how can I get into that? 'So Uh... What do you want to know?' No way It sounds to awkward. So I guess I just have to explain. What am I doing I need to do homework!?_

Shinji begins typing on his laptop but soon he has stopped again and begins thinking.

_I wonder what they will think. Will they grill me for doing such a thing? Will they agree with what I did? Hate me? Adore me? I know Asuka will be mad. I took from her the one thing that gave her pride. The one thing she could count on... Or maybe she would be happy. It did make her life complicated. But she likes being superior... Argh I need to stop thinking about this!_

Shinji starts his homework again, but of course the same thing happens. That was how his evening went until he finally gives up, and goes to sleep.

-------------

Asuka was in a similar predicament, except she had already given up on homework and just sat at her desk thinking.

_Katharina Hedwig... I guess I can somewhat see why that baka likes her so much. But is she really that great? Shinji came back from Germany a changed man, and it was all because of that girl. Her death had changed his personality so much... I wasn't even sure if it was the same Shinji. But it was, I guess it was his way of grieving. But now there's no reason to grieve anymore. He knew that from the second the third impact occurred. And now she's in Japan. He's going to see her everyday and they're just gonna pick up where they left off. I wonder if they were officially going out in Germany. What does she see in him anyway? _

The phone rings interrupting her thoughts. Asuka takes a moment to collect herself and then answers.

"Hello?"

"Asuka? It's Shinji"

_What? What's that baka doing calling me...._

"Oh um Hi", _Ack! I already said hello! What's wrong with me.... alright calm down.,_ "Uh... How's it going?"

"I'm okay I guess, listen Asuka, I was wondering if you were free tomorrow?"

All the blood in her body rushed to her face at the comment.

"Wa...wa.wa..what?" _Great, stutter Asuka, now that's the way to go._

_"_I said, are you free tomorrow?" Shinji asks.

"We...well"_ Oh my god this is ridiculous_ "Hold on a second"

Asuka puts takes her hand and covers the phone and then takes a deep breath.

"Alright, well I don't have anything planned why?" Asuka says overcasually.

"Well I was thinking you could come over to my house-"

"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!!!!!!"

"And talk about the third impact and.... well everything" Shinji finishes after Asuka was done yelling.

"Oh....umm sure okay"

"I already asked Rei and she can come, I'm going to ask Katharina in school tomorrow"

"Fine fine.. is that all?" Asuka says impatiently. She wanted to get off the phone as soon as possible after embarrassing herself.

"Yeah, so I guess I'll see you tomorrow"

"Bye" Asuka says hastily and hangs up. She puts the cordless phone back on the receiver and goes to get a drink of water. She fills a cup with water and walks to her room. She takes a huge gulp, sighs and sits back down at her desk.

"What the hell is wrong with me...." Asuka says to herself and then takes another sip.

-----------------

"Well, your first period will be free" a teacher says to the class, "Due to a few announcements that the class representative will make and your teacher's tardiness."

With that the teacher walked out of the classroom and Hikari assumed the position in the front of the class.

"Doesn't it not matter if she's late or not if Hikari needs to make announcements anyway?" Shinji mutters to himself. Although he, unlike many of the boys in his class, did not adore Misato, but he did see how the other teachers were not very fond of her. They seemed often go out of their way to embarrass her or tell her class needless information to make her look bad. And these actions, Shinji did not like.

Hikari was writing on the board and when she finished she turned around and began speaking.

"At yesterday's student union meeting it was decided that each class will write their own play and perform it" Hikari says to the class. There were a few groans, a few cheers, and one slam.

The door slammed open and Katharina ran in. Her hair was even more untidy than the day before, and she looked like she just rolled off her bed and came to school. Literally.

"I'm late! I'm sorry!" Katharina says but then realizes that there was no teacher present.

"Uh...." Katharina looks confused and then sees the words 'Announcements' on the board. She then looks at Hikari who looked somewhat annoyed for being interrupted.

"Sorry?" Katharina says.

"Please take your seat so I can continue" Hikari says impatiently. She took her duties as the class representative very seriously.

"You know you'd make a great teacher. You have the voice and-" Katharina sees the look on Hikari's face, "and my seat is over there and I'm going to sit" 

Shinji gives Katharina an unimpressed look as she walks by. Katharina sees and then simply laughs. 

"As I was saying, we are required to write a play, cast actors and actresses, and perform it. Our parents and any other people who would like to, will buy tickets and come see us among all the other classes perform. The winning class receives a trip to a hotel in the Onsen district."

"We have to write and perform a play, and we either get nothing or a bath?" Kensuke asks.

"No" Hikari says disliking the unenthusiastic tone in Kensuke's voice, "We, I mean the winning class will also receive a chance to perform in a real theater infront of real paying customers and critics"

"So our parents are fake paying?" Touji asks smiling. Kensuke conceals his laughter to a grunt.

"You know what I meant" Hikari says glaring at Touji, "And both of you, raise your hand when you want to speak!"

A hand goes up toward the back of the room.

"Xun-san?"

"How are we choosing tasks? I mean actors, writers and such." AI Li says barely audibly.

"Well I'm glad you asked. For now we're not going to be choosing actors since we don't have a script yet, but we will choose... these" Hikari says as she points at the board.

There was a list of jobs on the chalk board that nobody had noticed. The job was follow by a number, which represented how many people were required for the job.

"Who decided-" Shinji begins but quickly raises his hand when he sees the glare Hikari gives him.

"Yes Ikari-kun?"

"Who decided the jobs and the number of people?" Shinji asks, genuinely curious.

"I did. I did it all last night. I figure this is about what we need, if we need something extra I'll fill the spot"

"Oh..." Shinji says.

"So, now I want all of you to volunteer yourselves to do one of the jobs. In the event that there are more people volunteering for a job than the number required, you will settle it among yourselves. If you can't then we will take a class vote to see who gets the job"

Katharina raises her hand and Hikari calls on her almost immediately.

"Yes Hedwig-san?"

"What if you want to be an actress?"

"You still will have to do one of these jobs unless you are one of the main characters. We will choose characters after the script is finished and if you are chosen to be a main character, you will no longer be required to do your job" Hikari answers instantly.

"And how are you chosen?"

"The writers of the script will choose candidates for each role and we will vote on who we think will do the best job" Hikari answers, again instantly.

"Is there an audition?

Hikari pauses for a moment as if to consider the idea but then responds "No, unfortunately we are pressed for time"

"I see.. but then how will we know who to vote for?"

"Well we will all get to read the script so I guess whoever we think can play that part the best. I will ask the writers to choose personalities that exist within our classroom."

"So like if there's a blonde haired German girl who comes to school late..."

"I believe most of us would pick you to play her"

"I get it"

"Any other questions?"

"Yes, are you always this professional when if comes to class rep stuff?"

Touji laughs, Shinji lightly hits Katharina's leg, and Hikari moves on as if nothing happened.

"What?" Katharina whispers to Shinji.

"Give her a break, I'm sure you wouldn't want to be class rep" Shinji whispers back.

"Of course not, that's why I'm not. But you have to admit she seems like she has a stick up her-"

"Ikari-kun Hedwig-san, please listen this is important!" Hikari yells.

"See" Katharina says but then closes her mouth.

---------------------------

"I can't believe this, I have to make costumes? This is ridiculous" Touji exclaims. Touji, Shinji, Kensuke, Asuka, Hikari, and Rei were in their usual circle of desks eating lunch. But today, for the second day in a row they were joined by another lively German girl.

"What about me? I didn't want to do costumes either" Katharina says. 

"Serves you two right for trying to get an easy job" Hikari says. 

"I take offense. Lighting is not an easy job" Kensuke says defensively

"I can't believe they picked you over me" Touji says, sulkily eating his lunch.

"Well Aida-kun is more adept with electronics and machinery" Rei says in her calm voice.

Touji could not argue that point so he continued eating and did not reply. Hikari looks over at Shinji who seemed to be deep in thought. 

"Ikari-kun-"

"Hey Shinji, what are you so deep in thought about?" Katharina asks before Hikari could.

"Huh? Oh nothing, I was just thinking about what kind of script to right.

"Make it a romance story, that'll surprise all of us" Asuka says.

Shinji does not respond and resumed his trail of thought.

"Do you have any ideas?" Rei asks.

"Well... no. For now I'm just trying to pick a genre"

"I'm telling you romance. I would wanna see what you come up with" Asuka says, bringing her point up again.

"Maybe...." Shinji says. He then begins thinking again and the group decide not to intrude.

---------------------------

Lunch had ended and the students were in their respective seats once again. Misato taught the class, sounding very bored, and perhaps about a quarter of the class listened. The rest were busily typing messages to each other talking about anything.

Seeing this Shinji, who was usually attentive in his classes had an idea.

"Come to my house today after school" Shinji typed and sent it to Katharina.

"We haven't even been on a date yet" was the answer he got. He should have expected this.

"With Asuka and Rei" Shinji types to clarify things, although Shinji was sure Katharina knew what he was talking about.

"Oooh so I'm not enough for you anymore?" 

Shinji just sighs and then laughs. 

"That's right," Shinji types, "I need a fiery redheaded German girl, not a blonde one"

Shinji then receives a smack, hard, on the back of his neck. 

"Ow!" Shinji says a little to loudly.

"Shinji-kun, is there something wrong?" 

"Uh no Ms. Katsuragi" Shinji stammers.

Misato gives him one last look and then continues her boring lecture. Shinji recovers from the smack and begins typing again.

"So anyway, can you come? I was hoping we could all talk"

"I know. I'll come but I might be a little late"

"Why?"

"Is that any of your business?" The messages flashes on Shinji's screen. Shinji considered for a moment whether she was joking or not but decided that whether she was or not, he still wanted to know.

"No, but I still have a right to ask"

"I'm meeting someone" The messages come after a few minutes.

"Who?" Shinji immediately asks.

"I'm not sure, some guy"

"How did that happen?" Shinji typed although if he were to speak his voice would be trembling.

"There was a letter in my locker"

"What if its a prank?"

"Well than I won't be to late"

"And what if there's a bunch of guys waiting to rape you?"

Shinji hears a snort from behind him as Katharina suppressed a laugh. But Shinji did not laugh, he didn't like the idea of Katharina meeting up with some random guy.

"Well, I guess I would scream for help"

"Katharina, seriously. You shouldn't respond to random letters, they could be dangerous"

"You didn't seem to think so when you were breaking girls' hearts in Germany"

Shinji remembers the few admiring letters he had received in Germany when his school found out the he was an eva pilot. It was true, at the time he somewhat enjoyed the flattering remarks. "But those were love letters..." Shinji types trying to defend himself.

"So?"

"So it's different" Shinji types.

"What do you think I got?"

"......"

":-)"

"Let me see it" Shinji types. 

"No" The response comes immediately.

"Why, let me see it!"

"No, it's private" Katharina responds.

"You don't even know who the guy is!" 

"So, it's still private"

Shinji knew that Katharina was stubborn. If she did not intend on showing him the letter, he was not going to see it. There was no question of convincing.

"Fine, don't be to late" Shinji types and then exits his messenger program. Shinji was feeling angry but couldn't quite put his finger on why. All he knew was the Katharina had something to do with it. So when the end of the day bell rang, Shinji packed his things and was the first student out of the classroom. He thought that he had heard his name being called, but Shinji didn't turn around. He continued walking down the hallway, out the front door, and into the sidewalk. He continued walking, without looking back, all the way home. 

---------------------

Author's Notes

Well I don't have much to say. Onsen means hot springs in Japanese. Oh and the next chapter (When the children talk) will explain a little about what happend between this story and Retold. Also, does anyone know how old everyone should be?


	4. The Third Impact

'_Italics_' - thought

------- - different place, different' time

"*blah" - German

******* - flashback

The Third Impact

Misato stood at the doorway of her house. The used plates for her breakfast were stacked at the sink, unwashed. The shower was dripping, the towels were wet, and the penguin lay in the bathtub full cold water. 

Misato walked out of her apartment and walked to the elevator, her apartment door closing automatically and locking. She pressed the button for the elevator and waited. 

_'I can't believe I still have this job. I was just going to try it out and see if I like it. Well I guess it does have it's perks. Free food for an example, but there isn't that much time to eat it. It can get exciting sometimes and fun...'_ Misato suddenly snapped out of thought and looked up at the elevator door seeing it closed. _'Time passes slowly when you wait for an elevator by yourself....'_

The elevator door opens after another minute. Misato gets on and the elevator begins going down.. It makes no stops, going straight to basement. Misato gets off and walks toward her car. She gets on and drives out of the parking lot and into the street. She turns her headlights on and drives into the darkness.

------The next day------

Shinji walks straight home, not waiting for anybody. He wanted time to think, and walking home with Asuka and Rei would not give him a chance. His mind raced as he thought about Katharina. 

When he gets to his apartment he slides his card in and the door opens. He walks to the couch in his living room and sits down. He plugs his earphones into his ears and listens to music. He then lies down on the couch and closes his eyes.

---------------------

"Where is that baka!" Asuka yells at Rei.

"Perhaps he has gone already?" Rei says.

"He told us to come, he should wait for us!" Asuka yells again.

'_Why is she yelling at me_' Rei thinks but says, "He probably had to think about what he is going to say"

"I bet he waited for Katharina and they went together" Asuka says darkly, and then adds "So how are we going to get there?" 

"I know where he lives" Rei says and begins walking.

Asuka follows and the two walk to Shinji's house in complete silence. After a while Rei sees a familiar looking purple haired woman walking across the street.

"Isn't that Ms. Katsuragi?" Rei says.

Asuka looks across the street. There was a purple haired woman and a blonde haired man holding hands walking away from them.

"I think it's Misato, but that doesn't look like Kaji-san" Asuka says.

Rei stares at them deep in thought and then begins walking again.  


"Hey!" Asuka yells after her.

"There's no point throwing out our wild guesses let's go to Ikari-kun's house"

"But where's Kaji-san?" Asuka asks, still not taking her eyes of Misato.

"Ikari-kun might know" Rei says calmly.

"What how would Baka-Shinji-"

"Let's hurry" Rei says and walks even faster. Asuka struggles to catch up and the two quickly make it to Shinji's house.

---------------------

Katharina climbs the steps to the roof, holding the letter that she had received in her hand. She reached the top, opened the door, and stepped out. The sun was somewhat blinding but she could see a figure waiting for her. It was, as Shinji had stated, a random guy. Katharina had never seen nor spoken to him before. She walked up to him said "Hello" with a German accent, playfully.

"Ka..ka..ka...Katharina! I.. I..I... I'm s-so gl-gl-glad you c-came."

"Uh yeah.... you see about this letter, are you serious?" Katharina says, as if the guy wasn't stuttering his ass off like an idiot.

"W-well, yes ac-a-actually."

"Well then sorry, I can't help you. I am in looooove with a certain boy" Katharina says, smiling.

"Is it Shinji Ikari?" the boy asks.

"What makes you say that?" Katharina says, still smiling.

"You two seem very friendly in class"

"Is that all?" Katharina says.

"Well yes... If I'm wrong you can just-"

"Your right. Bingo, that's him." Katharina says.

"O...oh... I see well then..." The boy says now having calmed down.

"Yeah so, thanks for the letter but sorry!" Katharina says, still as joyful as ever.

"Okay...then" The boy says somewhat grimly.

Katharina stares for a second at the boy just to make sure he doesn't do anything rah like kill himself... she then walks over to the stairs and walks down it again. She walks out of the school and heads to Shinji's house.

----------------

*Ding Dong*

*Ding Dong Ding Dong*

"What the hell, he's not here" Asuka says pressing the doorbell a couple more times. Rei presses the door open button and the door opens as the "Unlocked" sign goes on.

"It's open" Rei says and walks in. She takes her shoes off and walks into the living room.

Asuka follows and takes her shoes off. She then sees Shinji sleeping on the couch.

"Baka-Shinji!" she yells and Shinji eyes slowly open. He tales one look at Rei and Asuka and takes off his earphones. He sits upright on the couch and faces them.

"Where's Katharina?" Rei asks.

"She's going to be late"

"Oh boy, so you got all upset and went home by yourself?" Asuka says, teasingly.

Rei gives Asuka a disapproving look which Asuka ignores.

"I wasn't upset. I was just tired... I needed some sleep" Shinji says. 

"Tell us what has occurred" Rei says, sitting down on the couch next to him.

"Uh wait... Let me get you two a drink, do you want tea or coffee?"

"Water" Rei says.

"Tea" Asuka says, "I remember you make tea wel...." Asuka's voice goes lower toward the end of the phrase remembering the days when she had lived with Shinji. This action was obvious yet Shinji ignored it and proceeded making tea. He poured two cups and then poured Rei a cup of water. He brought the glasses over and took a seat in a chair across from the couch. Rei and Asuka sat at the couch sipping their drinks.

"Well...I'm not sure I know where to start..." Shinji says, unconfidently.

"Just tell the whole story" Asuka says.

"Well....I was given a choice" Shinji began "....For the first time in my life"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_Everybody is here, the A.T. fields have been removed from everyone. Now, you must choose what comes next._

"I don't get it"

_You can reshape the world to the way you want it. _

"What?! I can't do that? What if I make a mistake"

_You will fix the mistake while you are still godly. For now you are free, you can do anything. But for everything that you do, you lose another freedom. Until finally, you are no longer divine and are yourself again. Trapped and unable to change anything._

"I can't do it...."

_Fine then._

"That's it? You're not going to persist?"

_Well if what you want is to live in the world as it is, then be my guest._

"Like... this?"

_Yes_

"But there's no one here...."

_Yes there is. There is everyone here and soon, you'll be able to feel it._

"But this... this isn't right. It shouldn't be like this...."

_So then fix it...._

"..... I have to think about it"

_Think about it._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"And?!" Asuka asks/yells.

"Well I thought about it..." Shinji says, his eyes downcast onto the table, "and he came back to talk to me after a while"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_Have you thought about it?_

"Yes"

_And you will change things?_

"Yes"

_I see...._

"First..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Yeah you're funny, you know you're going to go on" Asuka says.

"I know, but I don't want to go into details because it will take a while"

"What do you mean?" Rei asks.

"Well I had to remake all the normal stuff to you know like animals and traffic lights and whatnot. So all the basic stuff took a while. And then it got to the things I cared about."

"You kept Nerv" Asuka says, "But I'm not longer a pilot. Did you keep the Evas?" 

"No, the Evangelions never existed in this world. And neither did Angels"

"But are there still angels... like in general?" Asuka asks.

"I don't know, maybe"

"What? What do you mean? You made this world!" Asuka says.

"Well it was really hard. You would have to use all your concentration. If I had thought about something meaningless at the wrong time I might have destroyed this world"

"So you're not sure about everything you did?"

"Not everything"

"....."

"......"

"......"

The three were silent for a while. Shinji had expected this the night before. There would be so many things they wanted to ask him, but they wouldn't know where to start. Suddenly the doorbell rang. Shinji yelled "It's open!" and Katharina walks in. She smiles and shouts "Honey I'm home!"

She then laughs and walks over to the living room, "I just wanted to see your reaction"

"Can't you be serious... ever?" Shinji asks.

"Yes.." Katharina says and then asks, "Can I use the bathroom?"

Shinji sighs and replies "Yes". He then points toward his bathroom.

"When Katharina gets back I'll explain to her. And then you can all ask me whatever you want to and I'll try to answer you're questions"

Katharina takes a while and when she walks out her hair was neatly combed and tied back in a pony tail. She looked much better with her hair up since it didn't look all messy and everywhere.

"So... what's the big story?" Katharina asks sitting across from Shinji next to Rei.

"Well.." Shinji tells Katharina the story and when finished sits back and waits for the questions.

Which immediately come.

"What's Nerv now?" Asuka asks.

"A science research facility" Shinji answers.

"Where's my sister?" Katharina asks.

"She's probably in Germany. I actually don't know why you're in Japan" Shinji says.

"When I woke up I was in Japan. I was in a hospital, badly injured. I had no idea what was going on but somebody had left me a number...." Katharina says.

"A number to what?" Shinji asks.

"A dance studio" Katharina replies, "and only two people really know about that"

"I...well... I don't know...." Shinji says.

It was obvious to Katharina what had happened. Rei had deduced it as well, only Asuka had no idea what was going on.

"So... how about my mom?" Asuka asks grimly.

"...No.. sorry" Shinji says in a low voice.

Asuka has a hurt expression on her face, but she wouldn't dare cry.

"Why?" She asks in a pathetic voice.

"I just didn't think of her... I'm sorry" Shinji says.

"I feel some changes in my mind. Emotions that I have never felt before I can understand... It didn't used to be like this, why is that?" Rei asks.

"I asked for someone that would understand me..." Shinji replies.

"I see..."

"So he took the angel out of you and made you human"

Rei's expression faints for only a moment but then her serious look returns again.

"I...see..." She says.

"And your mother?" Katharina asks. Shinji had told her many stories about his mother. And yet he did not live with her or his father.

"She's dead.. She died 15 years ago at the meteor crash in the north pole..."

"Shinji...." Katharina says.

"Where's Kaji-san!?" Asuka says as she remembers seeing Misato.

"Kaji-san..is..." It had to be Asuka who asked the question. He had already given her bad news, "gone" Shinji finished.

Asuka looked shocked, Rei just looked up at Shinji and Katharina smiled.

"What do you mean he's gone!?" Asuka yells jumping up and grabbing Shinji by his collar. "Did you forget about him too!?"

"...No.." Shinji says in a low voice. 

"Then what? You wanted Misato to yourself or something!?" Asuka yells.

"Soryu-san can you sit down" Rei says trying to calm Asuka down.

"Who would leave such a big task to a baka like you anyway!" Asuka yells, "You messed everything up cause you're careless and you forgot!"

Shinji looks down. He didn't plan on telling anyone why he didn't bring Kaji back. He would just let them know it was intentional and let them hate him for it. And he would live with it.

"He didn't bring Ryoji back to avenge me" Katharina says, still smiling.

"What!?" Asuka yells dropping Shinji and looking back at Katharina.

"I just said it. Shinji did not bring Kaji into this world, to avenge me" Katharina says. She then looks over at Shinji.

Shinji looks up and stares at Katharina. '_She knows_' Shinji thinks. '_Actually it's not that surprising now that I think about it, She was the only witness...._'

"I'm asking what the hell that means!?" Asuka yells angrily.

"Kaji Ryoji killed me, so in return Shinji has killed him" Katharina says icily, "It's as simple as that"

Asuka fumed and then yelled, "Whaaaat!?" 

"How many times do I have to repeat myself, Kaji-" Katharina was interrupted by a hard slap to the face.

"What the hell makes you so special! What makes you think that's really what happened!" Asuka yells.

"Asuka..." Shinji says softly. "Asuka, I'm so sorry"

Asuka looks down at Shinji with a manic look on her face. She opens her mouth to say something by no words come and she runs out the apartment. Crying.

"So... I guess there's no other questions?" Katharina asks, after a few minutes of silence.

Rei , who had remained silent all this time got up and walked toward the door.  


"Hey Rei!" Shinji called.

"I need to go. I must think" Rei says, "But before I do, how many people have their memories?"

"Just us and Asuka. Everyone else has memories altered to fit this world. For example, Touji's sister was hurt in a car accident, not an angel attack." Shinji replies, "and Touji knows it. But we have memories of the old world. Not this one. That's why Asuka doesn't know about her mom, Katharina her sister, but Touji knows about his family.

"So Majo- er... Ms. Katsuragi does not have her memories?" Rei asks.

"Uh well no..." Shinji says feeling uncomfortable.

"Why did you decide to keep our memories?"

"I didn't want the old world to vanish" Shinji says.

Rei has a look of comprehension and says, "....Farewell then" She then leaves the apartment leaving Katharina and Shinji alone.

Shinji sat on his chair looking down thinking about the pain he had just caused Asuka. Katharina was rubbing her cheek.

"She actually hit me! And it hurt to! I'm gonna get her back..." Katharina muttered.

Shinji took no notice and continued starting blankly and thinking.

"Hey! A fair maiden is in pain, can't you do anything?" Katharina says.

"Huh?" Shinji asks looking up.

"I'm in pain!" Katharina says.

"Okay well... put some ice on it or something..." Shinji says.

Katharina looks down angry at the lack of attention. '_He never did this in Germany'_ Katharina thought and then sat on Shinji's lap.

"Wha What?" Shinji says startled. He then realizes what was causing the pressure and goes red.

"You did do that for me didn't you?" Katharina purrs, "You didn't just forget about him"

"He brought it up to me" Shinji says calmly.

Katharina was surprised Shinji had already recovered from blushing his guts out and being embarassed. 'Well_, he has been through a lot'_ Katharina thinks.

"What do you mean?" She asks.

"He actually said, what about Kaji Ryoji?" Shinji replied.

"And you said?"

"I'm not quite sure. I said I need to think and that I had a flashback of what happened when... you know" Shinji says looking dark, "And I said no. I don't want him back"

"...I see" Katharina says smiling, looking very happy. Shinji continues looking down.

"Shinji look at me" Katharina says. Shinji looks up and sees her smiling.

"Danke sehr" Katharina says and then leans in to kiss Shinji.

Shinji was startled at first. And then a surge of memories open up inside him as he remembers the time he spent with Katharina in Germany. He remembers the last time he had touched her lips with his, and what a great feeling it was. But now, everything was different.

Shinji held Katharina back just inches away from his face. Katharina looked confused and look right into Shinji's eyes.

"You're welcome.... Kat" Shinji says, "But I can't do that. I don't have the right to"

Katharina still looks confused but inside she understood. 

"I...I don't know..." Shinji says in a low voice and casts his eyes down one again, "You died, and I never would have imagined I would be here right now, looking at you again. I thought you were gone, and I couldn't live with it. And then..."

"And then?" Katharina asks.

Shinji takes a deep breath before responding "And then Asuka's sync rate went down, her pride was shattered, she was always mad, Misato began coming home less and less because of work and Kaji-san" Shinji was now talking really fast.

"And I was messed up and in no state to help Asuka in any way. I knew she was in pain and I just left her. I knew what I could do and I just didn't do it."

Katharina, despite Shinji's quick pace, listened to every word.

"Why?" She asked.

"Because I wanted you. I didn't want Asuka, I wanted you" Shinji says.

"Shinji...."

"I thought maybe, just maybe I could see you. Maybe there was something. Maybe that wasn't you that I saw dying in you're house...." Shinji says. He then sees the look on Katharina's face as he peeks at her. "I know, it's absurd and stupid. But that was my hope. And even that, was shattered."

"I talked a lot to Kaji-san when I got back to Japan. Misato was hardly ever there, so he tried to take care of us. He knew how emotional both me and Asuka were, so he tried talking to us. I did just that, telling him about you, talking about my parents, talking about Nerv.."

"And one day he confessed to me. I was lying in my bed, angry. I wanted to know who killed you, but she wouldn't tell me. Kaji-san came into my room and sat on the floor. I was facing away from him. He then just blurted it out"

"I was lying down, he was sitting, and we were both completely silent

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Misato didn't tell you about Katharina?" 

Shinji remains silent.

"What did you want to know?"

Shinji still remains silent.

"I guess that's obvious......" Kaji says and them doesn't speak for the next few minutes.

Shinji lies there, waiting for Kaji to leave when he hears the words.

"It was me"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Wow, he told you himself? What did you do?" Katharina asks.

Shinji suddenly realized how weird this was. Here he was talking about avenging the death of the person he was presently talking to.

"Well I turned to face and and saw the serious look on his face and decided he wasn't joking. Then I asked why-"  


"Skip what he told you. I don't want to hear it" Katharina says.

"What if it's not all true? I want to know what you really-"

"I don't want you to know" Katharina says, "I don't know what they told you, whether it's the truth or not, or how bad it is, but I never want you to know what I was doing. And if you already do, I don't want to know you do."

"That doesn't make too much-"

"Just go on with the story" Katharina says smiling again.

"That's about it. I asked him to leave my room. And that was it"

"And what about Asuka?" Kat asks.

"Oh... Well Kaji could have helped her, but she always wore a mask infront of him so he never knew how much pain she was in. I would saw that mask so many times, but I never said a word. I knew Asuka would kill me if I said anything. Or so I thought..."

"This better be getting to the point soon...." Katharina says.

"The point? What point?" Shinji asks.

"Well you started this story after rejecting my kiss and saying 'I can't'" Katharina says, "So it better end by telling me why you can't"

"Oh.. fine then. Well, I'm going to skip some parts, eventually Rei saved Asuka and Asuka's pride just died. The same night, Misato didn't come home and Kaji wasn't there either. So it was just us two. She avoided me and kept in her room, but eventually she had to eat with me. So we ate and we talked, or I talked, and she got mad. She ran to her room crying and I chased her because it was the first time I saw her cry."

Shinji's tone had become the same tone as when one would say "And blah blah blah, and blah blah blah". 

"I stood outside her room for a long time. It was like 2 hours until she stopped crying and another hour before she opened the door"

Shinji was slowing down now, and his voice was quieter as he explained what happened. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What?" Asuka says, her eyes white with no signs of her previous behavior" 

"I..uh- I just wanted to apologize. I want you to feel better but I don't know what to say because I'm bad at relationships...especially with you. I'm sorry I upset you" Shinji says

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!!!!!!" Katharina shouts interrupting Shinji.

"Huh?"

"You said that?!" Katharina asks.

"Well yeah....why?" Shinji asks.

"Well first of all, I can't imagine you saying that. And second, it's a sweet thing to say" Katharina says.

"Really?" Shinji asks surprised.

"Yeah, if that were me I would have pulled you closer, kissed you, dragged you into my room, locked the door, and kept you up all night" Katharina says in a joking voice. But inside, she knew if that really happened she might just do it. 

"What's wrong?" Katharina asks as she sees the look on Shinji's face.

"Can I continue?" Shinji asks.

"Uh...sure" Katharina says.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I..uh- I just wanted to apologize. I want you to feel better but I don't know what to say because I'm bad at relationships...especially with you. I'm sorry I upset you" Shinji says

Asuka looks startled and Shinji has no idea why.

"Shinji?" Asuka says.

"Uh...Soryu?" Shinji says, suddenly feeling awkward as Asuka walks closer to him. 

"Kiss me..... please" Asuka says.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shinji stops and Katharina was fuming.

"AND!?" Katharina yells.

"Well...she was wearing this really pretty gown and..."

"AND!?" Katharina repeats.

"I did" Shinji says in a soft voice.

"*That stupid bitch! I'm gonna kill her! Oh my god!" Katharina yells, in German.

"I'm not going to tell you anything else, but that wasn't the end of it" Shinji says, "And for that, I don't deserve to kiss you right now"

"Damn right you don't" Katharina says, "I can't believe you! You cheated on me!"

Shinji, who was willing to take insults and comments for this action her did, snapped at the last remark.

"I cheated on you!? You were dead!" Shinji yells back.

'She can be angry but that's nowhere near a valid accusation" Shinji thinks.

"So what? Don't I mean anything to you? Usually if your girlfriend dies you stay single for a while"

"We weren't officially going out in Germa-"

"We're not getting into that!" Katharina says, "so who do you want to be with now?" 

'Blunt and straight to the point...' Shinji thinks.

"Well...I don't know" Shinji says.

"Great" Katharina says in angry sarcasm.

The two were quiet for the first time in a while. Katharina then gets up and heads to the door.

"I'm going" Katharina says.

Shinji gets up and walks toward the door. Katharina had already opened it and stepped outside.

"Do you want me to walk you?" Shinji asks.

"No, because today doesn't count" Katharina says. She looked serious, which was a rare sight.

"What?" Shinji asks confused.

"Nothing, I still have a chance don't I?" Katharina asks.

"What?" Shinji asks.

"Do I still have a chance with you?" Katharina asks.

'_Blunt and straight to the poin_t' Shinji thinks again.

"Yeah" Shinji says.

"Well then you better watch out. I won you once I'll win you again" Katharina says and walks away.

Shinji was dumbfounded. He closed his front door and walked to his room. 

"Why does everything have to be so complicated" Shinji thinks.

---------------------

It was night. But Shinji was still lying on the same bed and he was still thinking about the same thing. Girls. Three girls, to be exact.

'_Three girls... Kat seems to be confident. And she has a right to be. It seems the only one I really have a chance with is Kat. Asuka seems to hate me again and I'm beginning to see traces of the old Rei... Maybe I should just go with Kat...but Asuka... and Rei... ARGHHHHHH!_'

"If I wait to long all the chances will pass me by" Shinji says outloud and immediately after, his doorbell rings.

Shinji opens his door to see his teacher at his doorstep.

"Uh... Ms. Katsuragi?" Shinji asks.

"Shinji-kun, this may be a little awkward but I have something I want to talk to you about" Misato says.

"Um sure, please come in" Shinji says but Misato doesn't move.

"It'll only take a minute. Shinji do you know what Nerv is?"

"No" Shinji says.

"Well it's this science facility. You know that big building you can see from school? Well... I work for them"

"What? But you're a school teacher" Shinji says trying to sound childish and ignorant. But his mind was racing. Why would Misato be working for Nerv. He had shaped the world so that Misato would no longer have anything to do with Nerv. This shouldn't be happening.

"Well my father works for them. And he wanted me to do something for Nerv instead of teaching, so I joined as a... well soldier"

'_So she wanted to be in Nerv. I guess I have no control over that, but I was sure she wouldn't go back as long as she wasn't placed there to begin with...'_

"They have an army?" Shinji asks.

"By the way, all the information I'm telling you doesn't leave the two of us" Misato says.

Shinji nods.

"Yes they have an army. Most of their findings and creations are in military sciences." Misato says.

Something clicked in Shinji's head. 

"Why are you telling me all this?" Shinji asks.

"Well, my father and the head scientist both want to see you"

"What?"

"They want to meet you..." Misato says, "and draft you into their army" she finishes quickly.

"What?!" Shinji asks again.

"It's not dangerous, hardly anyone gets and field work. We're basically just a bunch of security guards." Misato says.

"...Why do they want me?" Shinji asks.

"I'm not sure. One day my father told me to get you." 

".........."

"Shinji-kun can you at least-"

"I'll do it" Shinji says.

"What? You will?" Misato asks. Misato had always seen Shinji as somewhat of a quiet peaceful type.

"Yeah, it'll make your job easier won't it?" Shinji says.

"Thank you" Misato says, "Well I've taken up a lot more than a minute so I'm gonna go" Misato then leaves in a hurry.

'_She doesn't want me to change my mind_' Shinji thinks and then walks back into his house.

------------

"Rokubungi, why do you want that child here?" Dr. Katsuragi asks the head scientist of Nerv.

"I want to have the surveillance I can" Rokubungi answers.

"He will hardly be here, we have enough soldiers as it is"

"I will tell Major Katsuragi to train him, lengthening his stay here"

"...but why?" 

"He will be important... eventually" 

--------------

A/N: Another chapter finished. Let's see, I figure most of you know who Rokubungi is but for those who don't, you'll know in the next chapter. RuRsHeR, you review and understand the story really well. So if you review again, I want to ask you for some criticism. I'm sure you can give good ones. That's the review that stuck out, everyone else thanks for reviews. It's really annoying to tell what happend between now an the last story, so this will be the only time I do that. Which means I will eventually finish the other story. Probably... Maybe....


	5. The New Recruit

_italics_ - thought

**** - flashback

The New Recruit

"He can't change history"

"And what gives you that idea?"

"It's not humanly possible"

"But to angels?"

"..."

"Perhaps you underestimate their power"

"I think you overestimate his"

"..."

"How do I have these memories? I am sure he would not want me to"

"Perhaps he has his reasons"

"Perhaps they have theirs"

"What are you saying? That it was not all let up to him?"

Gendo nods. Dr. Katsuragi asks, "Then who?"

"That is what I am trying to find out"

"I see...."

(It's supposed to be confusing)

-----------------

"You really are a stalker aren't you?" 

A startled Kensuke turns around and sees Touji.

"Leave it alone" Kensuke mumbles and goes back to looking over the roof.

Touji joins him and sees a tall girl running laps around the front of the school.

"So, where's your binoculars stalker?" Touji asks.

Kensuke takes binoculars out of his bag and looks through them.

"You actually have binoculars..." Touji says 

Kensuke says nothing and continues watching. Touji looks over at his unresponsive friend and sighs.

"Why don't you approach her?" Touji asks.

"I don't even know her" Kensuke says.

"Well get to know her. Invite her to go somewhere with you"

"Like where?" Kensuke asks not taking his eyes of his binoculars.

"A movie maybe..." Touji says.

"How original" Kensuke says unimpressed.  


"How about to that stupid place in the mountains where you play your army games"

"Why would she want to go there?" Kensuke asks.

"Don't you listen? She likes nature! I bet she would be thrilled to get out of all this city junk"

"...Maybe" Kensuke says.

"Maybe what?" Shinji asks as he emerges from the doorway. Both Kensuke and Touji turn around and greet their friend.

"Hey Shinji" Touji says.

"Oh.. it's Shinji" Kensuke says and then goes back to staring.

"What is he doing?" Shinji asks Touji.

Touji shrugs and then says "Stalking, I guess"

"Oh, Ai Li-san?" Shinji asks.

"Who else" Touji says.

Shinji looks over at Kensuke who was busy adjusting the binoculars. 

"You know that's a little pathetic. Maybe you should get to know her or something" Shinji says.

"See! I told you!" Touji says, "Shinji you are a man of wisdom!"

"Fine" Kensuke says.

"What?" Touji and Shinji says in unison.  


"Fine, I'll talk to her after school today"

Shinji and Touji were both dumbfounded. Kensuke continued staring but his two friends stopped making comments about it.

-----------------

It was a large empty room with nothing but a desk. At this desk the Head Scientist of Nerv, Rokubungi Gendo, sits looking through some papers. Major Katsuragi walks in and stands infront of the desk.

"Yes, and what did you want to ask me about?" Gendo asks not looking up from his papers.

"It concerns Shinji Ikari" Misato states.

"Go on"

"I believe, with all do respect, that it was unwise to recruit a civilian so readily into our army"

"Major Katsuragi watch your tongue, we have no army"

"My apologizes, I meant security staff. But nonetheless, is it really safe to have him wandering around headquarters?"

"He will not be a problem for us in that way" Gendo says.

The fact that he didn't say how Shinji would pose a problem gave Misato the idea he wasn't going to tell her.

"I see... sir. Well that is just my opinion. I'm sorry for intruding" Misato says and then leaves. Gendo does not say a word as she does.

------------------

"Ha!" Shinji yells as he punches a man in the stomach. The man stands there and Shinji punches again with the other. This is repeated many many times.

"Ha!" 

"Ha!"

"Ha!"

"You're getting weaker. Are you tired already?" The man asks.

"HA!" Shinji yells loudly as he punches as hard as he could. He then continues, but eventually his stamina dwindles.

"That's enough" The man says. Shinji stops and bows at the man.

"Thank you sensei" Shinji says and leaves.

Misato was watching, unnoticed by Shinji, from the corner of the room. The room was completely padded with fighting equipment all over it. Shinji had left the room and the only people who remained was Misato and the teacher.

"He's already getting better" The man says to Misato.

"I saw"

"However his strength is greatly affected by his emotions... Not a good thing" The man says.

"He was always like that..." Misato says and then leaves the room.

-------------------

Shinji walks into the locker room and gets changed out of his uniform. Misato requested that he be properly trained to be a soldier and so he had to learn to defend himself. And martial arts wasn't all of it. He had been taught how to operate a gun, he had shot some targets, went through some obstacle courses, ran, had a lesson in Tae Kwon Do, and now he was on his way to eat and then another few hours of martial arts.

Shinji is dressed and walks out of the locker rooms. He heads to the cafeteria that was usually pretty empty. It seemed no one ever ate here, everyone was always so busy. But Shinji didn't mind being alone. It was tiring to be with people.

"Shinji-kun!" Misato says loudly from behind Shinji. Shinji turns around on line and sees Misato.

"Hello Ms. Katsuragi" Shinji says.

"How was your karate lesson?" She asks.

"It's not Karate it's Tae Kwon Do. And you should know, you were watching from the corner"

Misato looks surprised but quickly hides it. 

"You saw me?" She asks.

"I am training to be a soldier..." Shinji says as he receives his food. 

The two find a seat and surprisingly it's Shinji who initiates the conversation.

"Why do I have to be trained?" He asks.

"I don't know, it's Doctor Rokubungi's direct order"

Shinji had never met the man in this world. But he knew exactly who that was.

"I see..." Shinji says and then falls silent.

"You don't like it?" Misato asks.

"I like my life simple... and peaceful" Shinji says.

"You're not going to ever get any field work. There's enough of us for now. But it's good to know how to defend yourself." Misato says.

"I guess.." Shinji says and imagines a scene when a girl was in danger and he rescues her from a bunch of thugs. The thought causes a smile to creep to Shinji's face and Misato notices.

"What are you smiling about?" Misato asks.

"N-Nothing" Shinji says and eats his food.

"Hmmmm... suspicious.." Misato says. Teasingly.

"It's nothing" Shinji says more sternly.  


"If you say so..." Misato says but continues her evil grin.

---------------

Rei, Asuka, and Katharina stood outside of the school. All of them looking eager.

"Where the hell could he be!" Asuka yells.

"Perhaps he left already" Rei says with a sense of deja vu,.

"Yeah, I doubt he could face any of us after what happened yesterday" Katharina says fully aware that the other two girls had no clue the full extent of what had happened. 

"But we practically ran here! He couldn't have left before us" Asuka says.

"He avoided us all day. I'm sure he could sneak home without us noticing" Katharina says. Shinji had not joined them for lunch today. Neither had Touji and Kensuke but Hikari had told them what they were up to.

"Shinji already left" Touji says as he walks by the three.

"What!?" Asuka and Katharina say.

"With Ms. Katsuragi" Kensuke adds spitefully.

"WHAT!?" The two Germans say again, more loudly.

Kensuke and Touji, who were just passing by, came to a halt at the loud yelling. Kensuke had his ears covered when Touji looked over at Rei as if just noticing her.

"Are you sure?" Rei asks. 

"Yep, saw it with my own eyes" Touji responds, "we were walking with him then Ms. Katsuragi called him over and they walked to the parking lot" 

It takes a moment for this information to sink in and then all hell breaks loose.

"Baka Shinji! I'm going to kill him!" Asuka yells.

"This is like out of a TV show! And she's a teacher! She should be ashamed of herself"

The other four stare at Katharina for a second and then a click goes off in each of their heads as they catch on.

"You don't think...." Touji says.

"Well they left together right?" Katharina asks.

"Yeah... but-" Kensuke says.

"I can't believe this!" Asuka yells.

Rei begins walking away at this point and no one bothers to stop her.

"That boy is gonna get it tomorrow" Katharina says as she too heads home.

Asuka watches as the two girls leave and then glare at Kensuke and Touji who immediately decide this was a good time to leave.

"Uh..bye Soryu!" Touji says and rushes off with Kensuke.

Asuka was left alone standing infront of the school. She sits down on the steps and collects her thoughts.

----------------------------

Shinji walks into his apartment and collapses. Literally. 

"Ooooooooh it hurts" Shinji groans as he lies on his floor face down. His whole body was aching, he was sweaty, it was hot, and his stomach felt sick from moving around after he ate. 

Shinji somehow crawls into his room and gets untop of his bed. He lies there and catches his breath.

"It hurts..." Shinji mutters again. He then relaxes as sleep overcomes him. Everything was so peaceful and quiet.... This was how Shinji liked things... And suddenly the sound of the phone shatters the silence.

"Er..." Shinji groans and continues lying in his bed. But the phone persists and Shinji had not turned his answering machine on.

"I'll call you back" Shinji mutters. But the phone still persists.

"Jesus, enough already" Shinji says, but again, the phone persists.

"Fine!" Shinji yells getting angry. 

'_Whoever this is is gonna get it_' Shinji thinks.

"Hello?"

"Shinji-kun! You're home?" 

It was Misato.

"Ms. Katsuragi..."

"I told you to wait for me! I thought you got lost or something!" Misato yells.

"It isn't that far to my building" Shinji says.

"I know, it's my building too" Misato says, "well next time I tell you to do something, do it" 

"Sorry" Shinji says.

"Get some rest now, you need to do this again tomorrow" Misato says and then hangs up.

"I have to do this tomorrow!" Shinji yells into the phone but nobody hears him.

Shinji hangs up the phone and walks back into his room.

'_I'm going to think about it tomorrow, not today'_ Shinji thinks and then falls on his bed.

------------------

"I see... so everything is going as planned." Gendo says and then hangs up the phone. He sits back, pushes back his glasses, and quietly sighs.

"So, what did you want to ask me?" Gendo says.

"It concerns a classmate of mine, Shinji Ikari...Sir" Rei says.

"Ah our new recruit" Gendo says, hiding his surprise of Rei knowing of Shinji.

"So it's true? He works for Nerv?" Rei asks.

"Yes, indeed he does." Gendo says calmly.

Rei remains silent for a while and then says, "I see, thank you for your time" and walks away.

After Rei leaves the room Gendo picks up the phone again. He pushes a button and the phone automatically dials.

"It's me. Get me Major Katsuragi" Gendo says and hangs up.

------------------

Kensuke was in his usual spot where he played army. He was sitting down on some rocks as he looked over the city. A girl was sitting next to him, which pitch dark hair and black eyes.

"It's beautiful" AI li says.

"I know, it's my own place where I can be alone" Kensuke says.

"Oh Kensuke!" AI Li says and hugs Kensuke.

And then he wakes up.

"Huh? AI Li?" Kensuke says out loud as he opens his eyes and finds himself in his room.

He was lying down, still in his school clothes. He had come straight home and went to bed. 

"It was a dream..." Kensuke says and then recalls what had occurred earlier today.

***********

"Uh... would you like to go somewhere?" Kensuke says.

".....where?" AI Li says.

"W-well, I know this place and it's nice and..."

"I think I'll pass, I have things to do today" AI Li says.

"No wait, I think you'll really like it. I heard you like nature and-"

"What makes you think I like nature?" AI Li says, suddenly looking somewhat angry.

"I-I-I-I-I...." Kensuke stutters, "I-I h-heard... f-f-from a f-friend"

"Who?" AI Li asks.

"Well... He wasn't supposed to tell me, so he'll be angry if I tell you" Kensuke says._ 'It's a good excuse' _Kensuke thinks.

"So it's a guy." AI Li says immediately.

"N-n-no" Kensuke says.

"I don't think making someone into a research project is very polite" AI Li says and then walks away.

Kensuke stood there with his jaw wide open as he mentally beat the crap out of himself.

***End Of Flashback***

The more he thought of it the angrier Kensuke got.

"I'm so stupid" Kensuke says to himself, "what's wrong with me!" 

He was about to hit something when the phone rang.

"Hello?" Kensuke says.

"Hey Kensuke! How'd it go?" Touji asks.

"Horrible" Kensuke says.

"Horrible? It couldn't have been that bad" Touji says.

"It was" Kensuke says plainly.

"Well... what happened?" Touji asks.

"I told her I thought she might like this place because she likes nature, and then she grilled me about how I knew she liked nature"

"And?"

"And I didn't want to actually say how I got the information and I made what I thought was a good excuse"

"And?"

"She told me it's impolite to make someone into a research project and she walked away"

"Ouch" Touji says.

"This is all your fault" Kensuke says.

"What!? Me!?" Touji say, surprised.

"Yeah, you put the idea into my head"

"Well I didn't know she would care that you knew she liked nature" Touji says defensively.

"Maybe she doesn't like nature. Maybe she actually hates nature and that's why she was angry"

"Even if she doesn't like nature, it doesn't give her the right to be angry" Touji says.

"...."

"Cheer up man!" Touji says, "there's lots of fish in the sea"

"Yeah...." Kensuke says gloomily.

"Well I have to go, but I'll see you tomorrow!" Touji says.

"Alright then..."

They both hang up and Kensuke goes back to brooding.

"I can't believe myself. How could I make a complete fool of myself? I'm an idiot..."

And he continued until his mother called him for dinner.

---------------------

It was morning and Shinji was ready for school. He was early as usual and he walks out of his apartment. He walks a few blocks and stops at one corner. Here he waited for Asuka, every morning. He had no idea when they decided this, or who decided it but every morning he would wait here and sure enough, Asuka would show up eventually. But until she did he had some time to think.

'_Come to think about it, I was pretty friendly with Asuka... I mean after the third impact she was so... dead... But one day she just cheered up and went back to being the old Asuka again... Making fun of me, yelling, insulting, etc. And surprisingly I was glad when it happened. It was good to have the old Asuka back... Even if it meant I couldn't kiss her anymore..._'

Shinji blushed as he thought of some moments he had shared with Asuka before the third impact. How she longed for someone to connect with and he had tried to fill the spot. But after the third impact, she just didn't seem interested anymore. 

'_We walk to school together everyday... I guess that means we're friends... but then again we hardly ever talk on the way except when she needs homework... And I haven't been talking to her much lately... but that's not my fault. Kat is here. I should be talking to her..._'

Shinji felt a stabbing pain in his chest. This pain was called guilt as he realized what he was doing to Asuka.

'_I'm pushing her away because Kat is back... I'm just throwing away everything we had... Or at least what I think we had... I wonder what Asuka thinks of me now anyway... She probably just thinks I'm just another stupid kid.. Or maybe...._'

Shinji checks the time, Asuka was late. Shinji sighs and decides to wait a few more minutes.

'_I have to go to Nerv again today... I wonder why fath... I mean Gendo wants me there anyway. Ms. Katsuragi said she was ordered by Gendo and her father to recruit me..._'

'...'

'...'

'...'

"Wait a minute! Her father?!" Shinji says outloud. He remembers the third impact. When he was making all the decisions. Or at least the ones that mattered to him. The people he had thought about were the people he knew, which meant the people at Nerv. So Misato was one of them.

'_Dr. Katsuragi should have died in an experiment' _Shinji thinks_, 'Ms. Katsuragi's necklaces is supposed to be the only thing he left her..._.'

But Dr. Katsuragi, from was Shinji concludes, is alive and well. Unless Misato needed some serious help.

Shinji checks his watch again and decides if he doesn't leave now he would be late so he starts walking.

'_What the hell is going on_'

---------------------

A/N: Indeed, what the hell IS going on? Anyway, I won't update for a while because I'm going on vacation. Oh also, I was hoping that someone was going to notice that I mentioned that Misato's father died but no one did. :-( Oh well, thank everyone for the reviews. The one the stuck out this time is the one that told me that sometimes it's hard to understand who's talking. Unfortunately I can't access my review page for some reason and I don't remember who said it. But thanks, your criticisms helped. please R+R!


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